It had always been so with her from his childhood.
Whenever he put out his strength she rallied to him in full force. When in weakness he fell away she left him. It was as though all her woman's power of buttressing had been given to the father, so that there was nothing left to satisfy the demands of her seeking elder son.
That evening she gave him roses from her little garden before he went, and watched him round the corner.
Then she retreated indoors, and standing thin-shouldered in the door of the study, shot at the long loose figure by the fire one of her customary crude remarks.
"He's hanging on the Cross," she said.
Edward Caspar stared into the grate.
"He'll rise again," he answered.
CHAPTER XL
CLASH OF MALES
Ernie, carrying his roses, mounted the bus.